2013/2014 Official NHL Thread

[gohabsgo]

Sens lucky Leafs bust Clarkson declined their offer


who today represents the worst free agent signing of last summer. With a distressing seven-year deal for a 29-year-old of limited skill, the Toronto Maple Leafs invested $36.75 million in Clarkson, or a cap hit of $5.25 million.

Just over three years ago, Clarkson was being paid $875,000 by the Devils. reasonable compensation for a character, third-line player

As he tries to justify his new contract, wanting too badly to contribute, Clarkson has been a disaster for the fading Maple Leafs.

Clarkson has two goals, four assists and is minus-5. In other words, his honeymoon period was shorter than Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman’s.

it didn’t take a forensic accountant to figure out on July 5 that the Leafs were paying too much, too long, for a player that had earned a nice contract but was hardly an elite NHL forward.

Now that he’s a Maple Leaf mired in a mess, one wonders if this won’t be a catch-and-release situation. In other words, Clarkson could be trade bait if there’s anyone biting on the long contract — that string attached.

http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/scanlan-now-imagine-clarkson-as-a-senator#sthash.au8vPEJb.dpuf

Can't see any team wanting to make that trade unless an equally bad contract goes back the other way. A likely buyout next summer.

 

[joelcairo]

Congrats to Ovi on # 400!

 

[joelcairo]

Congrats to Pav and Alfie for both scoring on Bernier in the shootout (no Leafs scored on the Monster in the shootout) to lead the Wings to their 5-4 victory. Special congrats to Datsyuk for his BRILLIANT shootout goal, to go with his regulation goal, his 5 shots and 3 hits to earn a well-deserved but not at all unexpected first star. Condolences to Reimer (who seems like a decent guy) on getting pulled.

 

[Halloween Mike]

The Habs are a rollercoster lately... damn that last game was just weird. Honestly i watched the avalanche/kings game in the afternoon, well period 3 of it, cause thats when i catched it, and it was beautifull hockey, fun and exiting. And to think the avalanche where bottom not long ago. Roy really did amazing work so far.

Then the Canadiens play, and im like "wtf is that" , its weird, they play what i call in french "decousue" and even doing that they manage to score 3 goal. Kudos to them for scoring, but the preds goaltender was pretty weak on 2 of them. He get kicked out... and then period 2 is the worst period of hockey i saw in a long time... TERRIBLE. They came back a bit in period 3, but not that much and they where lucky Price was in good shape... and Desharnais worked hard in the overtime.

But bottom line, it was a terrible game, and lately they keep on loosing or win by the skin of there teeths due to mostly Price keeping them in the match(vs Islanders for exemple) Even poor Budaj did good when they lost 2-1

With the Habs its eithey they start good, and then they sit on there but the remaining 40 mins, or they start shit and start playing in period 3... and they don't have enough time...

Im nervous about my team right now and im thinking its gonna be really hard to make the playoff... they need to focus.

As for the leafs... well... can't say they are not trying ... but nothing work... they seem like a "cause perdue"

 

[Doc Holliday]

HM, i agree for the most part with what you said. Indeed, the Avs/Kings game was exciting to watch, but this is typical of Western Conference hockey. The West is considerably superior to the East and only a handful of teams in the East could compete with the West. Currently, the habs and the Leafs are not among those teams, and neither are the Red Wings, who also have struggled. I see Pittsburgh and Boston as teams who could currently compete with the West.

As for the Avs, they are playing much better than in the past, but they've slumped over the past 15 games or so. They had a fantastic start, but are now 7th in the West and i wouldn't be surprised if they missed the playoffs once again. Mostly because the West is so strong, and teams like Phoenix, Colorado and Dallas could be on their way out even though they've played extremely well.

As for the habs, indeed they've been very lucky this season. On many nights, Carey Price won them some games all by himself. On other nights, they got lucky by scoring last minute game-tying goals and then won in overtime or in a shootout. But best of all for them, they've been rather healthy all season long, and this is one of several reasons why they aren't lower in the standings at the moment.

They are still a very small team, and many don't believe such a small team will be able to maintain its stamina throughout a grueling 82-game season, which was evident last season in the shortened season, which we saw the habs hobble into the playoffs and very tired. It's good to see Budaj getting more starts this season, since it was obvious they burnt out Carey Price last year by the time they faced the Senators in the playoffs.

One mistake that Therrien made, i believe, was shuffling the lines around when the team was hot. There was no urgent need for it since the team found ways to win. Their best line at the time was the Gallagher-Eller-Galchenyuk line and they've lost their groove since they began to play individually on different lines. Gallagher is now strugglnig to find the back of the net, Eller is average, and Galchenyuk can pass the puck well, but doesn't have much of a scoring touch at the present time. It now appears that not keeping the line intact might have hurt their play.

But the bottom line is: how will the defence hold? Markov is playing major minutes and in my opinion is hugely responsible for P.K. Subban's play. But Markov is no longer a youngster and he'll burn out if he isn't rested at some point. The Olympics will also take its toll on him and he's one player that would have welcomed the rest during the Olympic break. Josh Gorges seems to be playing hurt right now and i'm not sure he may not miss the next game. Diaz has been rather invisible and Bouillion is on his last legs. Emelin hasn't been the same player he once was prior to his serious injury, and we all know how limited Douglas Murray is. P.K. Subban is carrying the defence, but for how long will it last if Markov starts to tire or gets injured? Maybe it's time to call up Tinordi and Beaulieu in order to rest some of the veterans.

And finally, a player that is counted for leadership hasn't been as effective as he was last year. I'm referring to Brandon Prust, who plays mostly on the 4th line and to me appears injured. Is he playing with bad shoulders?

Of course, we all know the struggles of Daniel Briere, but would he be more effective if he'd be given 18-20 minutes of ice-time instead of 5? What about Rene Bourque? How can he be so invisible game after game, yet no one seems to criticize him? Why doesn't Therrien bench him instead of benching a player like Briere? Will George Parros play again this season? Should he play again? Lots of question marks at this point in the season.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Tyler Seguin blasts cops behind their backs at house party

Tyler Seguin’s character off the ice is taking another hit.

The Dallas Stars forward, traded by the Boston Bruins in the offseason, is seen in a video obtained by TMZ that shows him diffusing a situation with two police officers who were called about a noise complaint while Seguin was at a 4th of July house party in Cape Cod, Mass.

After shaking the officers’ hands, Seguin turned to the camera moments later and — in a hushed tone — said “F— the 5-0.”

He then asked the group if they should start a “f— the po-po” chant, to which everyone said “no”.

TMZ said this incident happened the same weekend as his trade to Dallas, which also involved Rich Peverly and Ryan Button, in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser.

The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont., who signed a six-year, $34.5 million contract with the Bruins last year just prior to the NHL lockout, has either cleaned up his act in Dallas or has toned down his bad-boy image.

Tyler Seguin on TMZ

http://blogs.canoe.ca/slam/hockey/tyler-seguin-blasts-cops-behind-their-back-at-house-party/

Hopefully this extremely talented kid will find maturity in Dallas or else his career will eventually take a hit.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Meh, i will take "The Thrill" anyday TYVM!

 

[G1GBallday]

Meh, i will take "The Thrill" anyday TYVM!

Well with Burke that makes two of you. :lol:

Had the Bruins not won the cup in 2011 and the cap not gone down this year I can guarantee they would have found a way to be patient with him. Regardless, in my opinion they will be regretting that trade for the next 15 years.

Also if you look at the facts (oh no I said the F word!) Seguin is 5 years younger, played 5 less games this year and still has 2 more points than Kessel.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Meh, i would still take "The Thrill", however i do agree that Boston will regret the trade.

 

[gohabsgo]

The Leafs, bar none, are the luckiest team in the league. Take last night’s game: badly outshot and outplayed yet again but still manage to steal a loser point because of their goaltending in regulation (Kadri’s tying goal clearly should not have counted). Without Reimer and Bernier, Toronto would be down with FLA and BUF in the standing, well out of a playoff spot. Where was Kessel last night? A soft, and streaky perimeter player who is invisible on most nights.

The Leafs defense is terrible, a bunch of pylons led by the most over rated player in the league (as voted on by his peers) - no wonder they are outshot so often. Toronto is so desperate, they sign a stiff like Ranger to be a top 4 d-man on a crummy Leafs blue line.

Speaking of Celine Sloppy Seconds - what does Nonis (Burke Lite) do? He wants the same deal as Kessel: do the sad-sack Leafs open the vault again and sign Phaneuf to a 8 year deal? I hope they do, because this bottom feeding organization will go nowhere with Phaneuf as captain for another 8 years!

From Clarkson on down, is there a team with a bunch of more over-paid, under-performers out there? Toronto is right up against the cap , but finds itself in the middle of the standings and dropping fast.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Okay, now let's look at the Habs.........

Oh wait! They'll win the Cup this season, and next season, and the season after that, and so on..........:lol:

 

[joelcairo]

What's especially funny, GHG, is that Phaneuf said the Leafs "played a good road game." Monsieur Bernier, to his credit, did not agree. (And you're right: Kadri's goal should not have counted. There are even a great many Leaf fans who - to their credit - are honest enough to admit it).

 

[Doc Holliday]

The Leafs, bar none, are the luckiest team in the league.

No, this honor goes to the Habs.

Kadri’s tying goal clearly should not have counted.

No, it was a good goal. The goalie didn't have control of the puck & Kadri simply tipped it in. None of the referres blew the whistle to stop play, so they were both aware that Talbot didn't have control of the puck. And even if we pretend that it wasn't a good goal, they had a good goal refused in their last game in Mtl when they said JVR was interfering with the goalie, which replays showed wasn't true. What i'm saying is that these things even out during a long season. But it was still a good goal.

Without Reimer and Bernier, Toronto would be down with FLA and BUF in the standing, well out of a playoff spot.

There is some truth that the Leafs have had excellent goaltending for most of the season, but the same could be said about the Habs. If Carey Price wasn't there, the Habs would likely be battling it out with Florida, Buffalo & the Islanders at the bottom.

Where was Kessel last night?

Kessel actually led his team in shots-on-goal that night. The only reason he didn't score was because Cam Talbot was a brick wall in the Rangers net.

A soft, and streaky perimeter player who is invisible on most nights.

Yet he still gets 30+ goals a season & regularly ends up leading the league in the top 10 category for both goals and points. I'd take such a player on my team anytime!

The Leafs defense is terrible, a bunch of pylons.....- no wonder they are outshot so often.

They aren't great, but the forwards also must share in the blame since forechecking & backchecking is a big part of team defense. But i'll be easy on you with that one since you've never played or coached, which i have.

Toronto is so desperate, they sign a stiff like Ranger to be a top 4 d-man on a crummy Leafs blue line.

Ranger was never signed to be a top 4. He was signed to be a 5th or 6th defenceman and the only reason he wound up making the team was for cap issues. He came cheap.

Speaking of Celine Sloppy Seconds - what does Nonis (Burke Lite) do? He wants the same deal as Kessel: do the sad-sack Leafs open the vault again and sign Phaneuf to a 8 year deal? I hope they do, because this bottom feeding organization will go nowhere with Phaneuf as captain for another 8 years!

Well, if they don't re-sign Captain Dion, someone else will & they'll give him what he wants. I can see a team like Philadelphia, Edmonton and even Montreal signing Phaneuf if the goes UFA. Physical defensemen with a great shot like Phaneuf's who regularly puts in 25-28 minutes a game, plays on the first unit of both special teams and always plays against the opposing team's top lines are hard to come by and rarely replaced. He's also maturing as a leader and both his offensive and defensive attributes cannot be denied. His play has improved considerably under Carlyle and this shouldn't be surprising since defence is a very tough position to learn in this league.

From Clarkson on down, is there a team with a bunch of more over-paid, under-performers out there?

Yes there is, the Habs. Gionta makes $5 million. Briere $4 million. Desharnais $3.5. Bourque $3.3 million. Prust $2.5 million. Gorges $3.9. Yikes!!!

Toronto is right up against the cap , but finds itself in the middle of the standings and dropping fast.

Even they've struggled considerably over the past 2 months, they Leafs are still 7th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. I'd say this is actually pretty good and it makes them a playoff team. The Leafs have played much better over the past 2 weeks, which included their best game of the year against Los Angeles, and giving a sound beating to the Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 7-3. The only way to go for the Leafs is up. Montreal, who has struggled as much recently, is only 3 spots ahead of the Leafs. Thanks to Carey Price, that is. If he gets injured, watch out!

 

[lgna69xxx]

Nice Christmas Present you just gave ghg, Doc., the gift of Truth. Well done amigo, especially the part about Dion getting a new contract from the Leafs. He is one of the top 15 Dmen in the entire NHL, some might say top 10. Last i heard he was looking for 7 years at a little more than 50mil total. Sounds about right for what he brings to the rink night in, night out.

Clarkson has not put up the numbers yet, even tho he has the last few games, but the intangibles he birngs are there every night and remember he missed ten games out of the gate to start the season and that is tough to jump right into things after missing that kind of time when everyone else has been playing. He will be fine and has been playing extremely well the last 5 games and looks to be back on track.

Merry Christmas Hockey Fans!

No, this honor goes to the Habs.



No, it was a good goal. The goalie didn't have control of the puck & Kadri simply tipped it in. None of the referres blew the whistle to stop play, so they were both aware that Talbot didn't have control of the puck. And even if we pretend that it wasn't a good goal, they had a good goal refused in their last game in Mtl when they said JVR was interfering with the goalie, which replays showed wasn't true. What i'm saying is that these things even out during a long season. But it was still a good goal.



There is some truth that the Leafs have had excellent for most of the season, but the same could be said about the Habs. If Carey Price wasn't there, the Habs would likely be battling it out with Florida, Buffalo & the Islanders at the bottom.



Kessel actually led his team in shots-on-goal that night. The only reason he didn't score was because Cam Talbot was a brick wall in the Rangers net.



Yet he still gets 30+ goals a season & regularly ends up leading the league in the top 10 category for both goals and points. I'd take such a player on my team anytime!



They aren't great, but the forwards also must share in the blame since forechecking & backchecking is a big part of team defense. But i'll be easy on you with that one since you've never played or coached, which i have.



Ranger was never signed to be a top 4. He was signed to be a 5th or 6th defenceman and the only reason he wound up making the team was for cap issues. He came cheap.



Well, if they don't re-sign Captain Dion, someone else will & they'll give him what he wants. I can see a team like Philadelphia, Edmonton and even Montreal signing Phaneuf if the goes UFA. Physical defensemen with a great shot like Phaneuf who regularly puts in 25-28 minutes a game, plays on the first unit of both special teams and always plays against the opposing team's top lines are hard to come by and rarely replaced.



Yes there is, the Habs. Gionta makes $5 million. Briere $4 million. Desharnais $3.5. Bourque $3.3 million. Prust $2.5 million. Gorges $3.9. Yikes!!!



Even they've struggled considerably over the past 2 months, they Leafs are still 7th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. I'd say this is actually pretty good and it makes them a playoff team. The Leafs have played much better over the past 2 weeks, which included their best game of the year against Los Angeles, and giving a sound beating to the Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 7-3. The only way to go for the Leafs is up. Montreal, who has struggled as much recently, is only 3 spots ahead of the Leafs. Thanks to Carey Price, that is. If he gets injured, watch out!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Nice Christmas Present you just gave ghg, Doc., the gift of Truth. Well done...

Well, as they say, Christmas is a time for sharing. So i figured i'd share some of my hockey knowledge with those who considerably need some in order to hopefully make them appear smarter when they'll post in 2014. What can say? I'm a very nice guy! :thumb:

 

[joelcairo]

Kessel actually led his team in shots-on-goal that night. The only reason he didn't score was because Cam Talbot was a brick wall in the Rangers net.

Yet he still gets 30+ goals a season & regularly ends up leading the league in the top 10 category for both goals and points. I'd take such a player on my team anytime!

There are many good goalies in the NHL. The BEST scorers manage to accumulate goals in spite of whichever "brick wall" they happen to face. The fact that an opposing goalie plays well should never be used as an excuse: legitimate scorers know that NHL goalies are good, and they know that THEIR job is to score in any case. ALL players repeatedly encounter good goaltending. The goalies who play well against Kessel also play well against Ovi, Stamkos, and every other player in the league from top to bottom.

30+ goals a season? Fair enough: Phil's in his 8th season and has scored 30 or more 4 times. He scored only 20 last year but that was in only 48 games, so he likely would have hit 30 in a full season. This year he has 17 after 39 games so he is again on pace.

"...regularly ends up leading the league in the top 10 category for both goals and points." NOPE. First of all, "leading the league" means FIRST, not top 10! Second, Phil has been in the top 10 only TWICE in his EIGHT seasons. In 2011-2012 he was 6th and in the shortened season of 2012-2013 he was 8th. All other years, he was not close:

2006-2007: Phil had 29 points. 10th that year was Danny Brière with 89.
2007-2008: Phil had 37 points. 10th that year was Ilya Kovalchuk with 87.
2008-2009: Phil had 60 points. 10th that year was Nick Backstrom with 88.
2009-2010: Phil had 55 points. 10th that year was Marian Gaborik with 86.
2010-2011: Phil had 64 points. 10th that year was Brad Richards with 71.
THIS year after 39 games by Phil, he is 20th with 33.

In plus/minus Phil has ONE plus year: With the Bruins in 2008-2009 Phil was plus 23.

Every other year he has been a minus player.

2006-2007 with the Bruins minus 12.
2007-2008 with the Bruins minus 6.

With the Leafs:

2009-2010 minus 8.
2010-2011 minus 20.
2011-2012 minus 10.
2012-2013 minus 3.
THIS season so far minus 1.

Career totals to date:

543 games played. 202 goals. 210 assists. 412 points. Minus 37.

 

[joelcairo]

They aren't great, but the forwards also must share in the blame since forechecking & backchecking is a big part of team defense.

Exactly correct Doc: it is NOT only their very weak defensemen that have hurt the Leafs. The Leafs are doing poorly because their defense AND their forwards have both played very badly. Only the two goalies have been good on a fairly consistent basis, as they have saved the Leafs on the many, many occasions that their forwards and defense have been outplayed and outshot.

 

[joelcairo]

His play has improved considerably under Carlyle and this shouldn't be surprising since defence is a very tough position to learn in this league.

1. It is not clear that Phaneuf's "play has improved considerably under Carlyle." Many would disagree with your quoted opinion.

2. Yes, "defence is a very tough position" but this is Phaneuf's NINTH year in the league. The time for a learning curve is LONG past due for a guy who has played well over 600 NHL games.

 

[joelcairo]

Even they've struggled considerably over the past 2 months, they Leafs are still 7th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. I'd say this is actually pretty good and it makes them a playoff team. The Leafs have played much better over the past 2 weeks, which included their best game of the year against Los Angeles, and giving a sound beating to the Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 7-3. The only way to go for the Leafs is up.

I'd say 7th out of 16 is NOT "actually pretty good". I'd say they MIGHT make the playoffs but it's FAR from a given. And if they have actually "played much better over the past 2 weeks" then that is actually DISCOURAGING news for Leaf fans, because even with their so-called "better" play (which, of course, is only your opinion), their RESULTS have still been poor...meaning that even their "better" play isn't succeeding where it counts - namely in the win/loss column.

"The only way for the Leafs to go is up." NO, it's NOT - they might go "up"...but they might ALSO go down. Only time will tell.

 

[joelcairo]

Even they've struggled considerably over the past 2 months, they Leafs are still 7th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. I'd say this is actually pretty good and it makes them a playoff team. The Leafs have played much better over the past 2 weeks, which included their best game of the year against Los Angeles, and giving a sound beating to the Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 7-3. The only way to go for the Leafs is up. Montreal, who has struggled as much recently, is only 3 spots ahead of the Leafs. Thanks to Carey Price, that is. If he gets injured, watch out!

"Montreal....is only 3 spots ahead of the Leafs." ONLY - I'd say 3 spots is QUITE A BIT, especially to someone who thinks it is "pretty good" that "the Leafs are still 7th out of 16." If THAT is "pretty good", then wouldn't "3 spots ahead" be VERY good? Montreal is in 4th (versus 7th for the Leafs). Montreal has 47 points in only 38 games, while Toronto has 41 points in 39 games. Montreal has a 6 point lead PLUS a game in hand. Montreal is in FAR better shape than Toronto - those are the FACTS.

Montreal has definitely NOT "struggled as much recently". Montreal is 6-4-0 in its last 10 games while Toronto is 3-5-2 in ITS last 10! In other words, Montreal has won 6 of 10, while Toronto has won only 3 of 10, and Montreal has 12 points in that span while Toronto has only 8.

Meanwhile, you imply that Montreal will be in trouble if Price gets injured...but surely it would be a far bigger blow to the Leafs if either of their goalies gets injured. It is a rare team that does not suffer if its best players are injured, which is why it is VERY impressive what Tampa Bay is doing even without Stamkos.